Next week’s Cowboys-Broncos game will get mega play from CBS. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will be at AT&T Stadium to broadcast the game to just about the whole country, with the notable exceptions of San Diego and San Francisco. And that will be followed by a return to NBC’s Sunday Night Football when the Cowboys host the Redskins.

The Cowboys return to Fox in Week 7 of the NFL schedule. Maybe Buck and Aikman finally will be the tour leaders.

By the way, Cowboys ratings in Dallas-Fort Worth are averaging a 28.5 through three games. That’s down from 30.5 last year. It’s a decrease of approximately 51,000 homes per game.

Hot seat

Kenny Albert, NFL play-by-play announcer for Fox

Kenny Albert called last week’s Rams-Cowboys game for Fox with analysts Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa. The trio will be in San Diego on Sunday for Cowboys-Chargers.

This is Albert’s 20th season in the Fox NFL booth. He also works baseball for the network and New York Rangers games on local radio. He is the son of legendary NBA voice Marv Albert. We chatted earlier in the week as he was preparing for a Rangers-Canucks game in Vancouver.

You’re 45 years old. Isn’t about time to transition away from Kenny to Ken? Kenny, Moose and Goose sound like characters in a children’s story.

Early on I tried Ken for a while, but it never took. My wife’s name is Barbara. On our wedding cake back in 1996, they put Barbie and Ken dolls. That might have been the last time anyone referred to me as Ken.

How did being the son of Marv Albert help or hinder a fledgling career in broadcasting?

It was 99.9 percent positive. Growing up, I’d tag along and do stats for him. I learned at such a young age by osmosis. Watching him prepare, seeing how much work goes into it, I tell everybody who wants to get into this business that preparation is the No. 1 thing. If there was a downside, it was that he wasn’t home for dinner very often.

Have you purposefully stayed away from your dad’s bailiwick, broadcasting the NBA?

I started out calling minor league hockey in Baltimore. Hockey was what I was doing when Fox called in 1994. I love all sports, but hockey was my passion as a kid. It’s hard to broadcast NHL games and NBA games in the same season.

Jason Garrett doesn’t offer much more than “coachspeak” in his daily media sessions. How is he when he sits down with you, Daryl and Tony?

Moose’s relationship as an ex-teammate might make for a different atmosphere, not that Jason is telling us secrets. Goose lightens up a room, so that helps. Before the Rams game, I asked Jason why he signed with the Tampa Bay Bucs in 2004. He said one of the main reasons was he thought he might be a coach someday and he wanted to be around Monte Kiffin and Rod Marinelli. I thought that was a very good answer, and I told the story on the air.

What’s been your most memorable moment in the booth at a Cowboys game?

I called the game in 2000 when Terrell Owens twice celebrated touchdowns against the Cowboys at Texas Stadium on the star at midfield. George Teague leveled him the second time. It doesn’t get more memorable than that.

Talking Rangers, an Astros naught and the possible postseason

Perhaps you have heard about Sunday’s Astros-Indians game, which scored an extremely rare 0.0 rating for Comcast SportsNet Houston. It should be noted that the first two games of the series each scored a 0.1, good for about 2,300 homes.

The woeful Astros’ subsequent three losses at the Rangers averaged 0.04 for CSN Houston, which translates into about 915 homes. In Dallas-Fort Worth, those games averaged 3.8, which represents about 101,000 homes for Fox Sports Southwest.

Which brings up the postseason, if there is a postseason for the Rangers. FSSW bows out after Sunday’s game, and cable’s TBS returns once more for the playoffs.

The superstitious may not want to hear it, but if there is a Monday play-in game to the Wednesday night wild-card game, both belong to TBS. The ALDS also belongs to TBS, although a couple of games may pop on MLB Network.

Note that Keith Olbermann, on loan from ESPN, will be TBS’ studio host. He’ll work with Tom Verducci and Pedro Martinez in the analysts’ seats.

Stars gazing

The genius of Ralph and Razor returns for their 18th season in the booth when the Stars open against the Florida Panthers on FSSW.

FSSW is down for 63 games this season, KTXA (Channel 21) has 15 games and NBC Sports Network has four. The Ticket will be the team’s radio home.

The big change around the broadcasts has Ali Lucia hosting Stars pre- and postgame shows in the FSSW studio. She arrives after stints in Rochester, Minn., and Norfolk, Va. She’ll work with Craig Ludwig, Brent Severyn and Andy Moog.

Note: Lucia’s father, Don, coaches hockey at the University of Minnesota, while one brother, Mario, a second-round pick of the Wild in 2011, plays at Notre Dame and another, Tony, plays in the minor leagues.

Meanwhile at home games, Marty Turco moves to the new role of rink-side reporter during home games.

Around the Horn

Cumulus has yet to take over operations at ESPN radio, but that hasn’t stopped the parent company of The Ticket from its due diligence advertising to fill the station’s afternoon drive slot. Randy Galloway’s contract is up at year’s end, and he has announced he’s retiring from the station. There has been talk that Galloway may exit even earlier. One website that’s picked up Cumulus’ help-wanted posting, however, erroneously has The Ticket looking for afternoon drive hosts. The Ticket lineup has been intact since Norm Hitzges slid over from KLIF in 2000. Surprised anyone at the station even knew how to post a help-wanted notice. … Hardee’s is breaking out a commercial campaign featuring A.J. McCarron’s-ex Katherine Webb pitching its product. Surely, the fast-food chain should call its latest burger offering The Brent Musburger in honor of the ESPN broadcaster who launched Webb’s career.

Craig James vs. Fox

Attorneys representing Craig James have petitioned a Collin County judge to require three top Fox Sports executives to provide depositions regarding FSSW’s decision not to retain him as a college football analyst. James, a former sportscaster and Republican senatorial candidate, was let go after he worked in the Irving studio on Aug. 31.

The executives are Fox Sports co-presidents Eric Shanks and Randy Freer and FSSW general manager Jon Heidtke. In a statement this week, Fox Sports said James “was not a good fit for Fox Sports” and “is a polarizing figure in the college sports community.”

James’ attorneys claim he was asked not to return because of his religious beliefs and because of comments he made regarding sexual orientation and gay marriage during his Republican primary campaign for the Senate seat now held by Ted Cruz.

Next up is a scheduled Nov. 5 hearing in Collin County District Court.

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About Barry Horn

Barry Horn has covered sports media for the last two decades. He was born in The Bronx, went to college at NYU, graduate school at Northwestern and worked at the Miami Herald immediately before joining SportsDay in 1981.

He once worked at the now defunct Hollywood Sun-Tattler, which despite its name was not a supermarket tabloid. His work as a feature writer, his other hat here, has earned him national, state and local awards, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination and an unequalled five state-wide Fred Hartman Awards for "excellence in sportswriting."

His wife runs a dental practice in Plano. His two sons attended the University of Texas and Texas A&M, and his daughter attends Trinity University in San Antonio.